How a Simple Idea Became a Social Impact Movement
1. Background
Role: Team Chalkpiece, Experience Designer
Skills: Design Thinking, Workshop Design, Curriculum Structure, Figma Toolkits, Facilitation, User Research, Mentor, Team Leader
Impact: Reached students across south India; awarded the Don Norman Design Award for Humanity-Centered Design.
Chalkpiece is a design-thinking initiative I co-created with a small team. Our goal was simple:
to help students learn how to think, not what to memorize.
We built toolkits, activities, and workshops that made creative problem solving accessible, structured, and fun for students and teachers.
3. The Insight
When we began visiting schools, we noticed three things:
- Students knew answers, but not the “why.”
- Creativity wasn’t part of the classroom.
- Many students hesitated to speak or share ideas.
This wasn’t a content problem — it was an experience problem.
Students didn’t lack ability.
They lacked a system that encouraged exploration.
5. What We Created
a. Design Thinking Workshops
Hands-on sessions where students explored real problems, brainstormed ideas, prototyped solutions, and tested them. We designed every activity to be:
- simple
- visual
- collaborative
- interactive
- adaptable across age groups
b. Figma Toolkits
We created structured templates for:
- empathy maps
- problem statements
- idea boards
- solution canvases
- prototype sheets
- reflection cards
These toolkits helped bring modern design thinking methods into a school environment.
c. Teacher Guides
Step-by-step guides that helped teachers run activities independently.
d. Activity Cards
Problem cards, prompt cards, and storytelling cards that made the process feel light, fun, and engaging.
7. The Impact
Chalkpiece grew from a small idea into a movement:
- Hundreds of students learned structured problem solving
- Teachers started integrating design thinking into their classes
- Students became confident in sharing ideas
- Parents noticed behavioural changes
- Schools adopted our toolkits for projects
- And the initiative received the Don Norman Design Award, a global recognition for humanity-centered design impact
But the most meaningful outcome?
Students who once hesitated to speak began thinking, questioning, and creating with confidence.